UAS Mendenhall Glacier Presentation

UAS Mendenhall Glacier Presentation

Environmental Science Department Chair Eran Hood described the significance of glacier water to the local ecosystem, as 95 percent of Southeast Alaska's glaciers are thinning, a phenomenon he said is worldwide.

Environmental Science faculty and students presented a public lecture at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center March 4 where they gave some insight into their research on the glacier, and how the ice that makes it up continues to decrease. The terminus lost 540 feet between 2009 and 2010, more than twice the yearly average of ice loss between 1997 and 2009. Some of this can be explained through climate and environmental changes in temperature and precipitation, which researchers are still studying. Environmental Science Department Chair Eran Hood described the significance of glacier water to the local ecosystem, as 95 percent of Southeast Alaska’s glaciers are thinning, a phenomenon he said is worldwide. "One thing we know from a variety of studies is that we’re losing glacier water very rapidly in Southeast Alaska," he said.